R.I. Political Scene: GOP attacks Cicilline on hiring of ex-staffer

By Philip Marcelo and randal edgar | | Journal State House Bureau

Monday

May 23, 2011 at 12:01 AM

A move by U.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline to reenlist the services of Christopher Bizzacco, who managed Cicilline's winning 2002 mayoral run and later served as his City Hall chief of staff, is catching heat from state Republican Party Chairman Kenneth K. McKay IV.

Bizzacco has been working at Cicilline's D.C. office since January as a $70,000-a-year senior policy adviser, according to Cicilline spokeswoman Jessica Kershaw.

A recent graduate of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, he focuses on manufacturing, education and work-force development, transportation and infrastructure, energy and fisheries and natural resources, Kershaw said.

McKay criticized the hiring last week, implying that it was an "obstruction of justice" to bring Bizzacco on board in light of his role in a Providence City Hall tax scandal involving Cicilline's brother, John M. Cicilline.

Bizzacco served as a top adviser to Cicilline from 2003 to 2008. He served as chief of staff in 2006, when Bob Ceprano, the former city tax collector, alleges that John Cicilline, now a disbarred lawyer, conspired with city officials, including Bizzacco, to help one of his clients avoid paying delinquent property taxes owed to the city.

"Just as it would be inappropriate for an investigator to have a financial relationship with a witness, it is inappropriate for a witness to have a financial interest with a principal in an investigation," McKay said. "It's not appropriate for police to give money to witnesses, and it's not appropriate for witnesses to get money from people they are testifying against."

McKay levied the criticism as he commented on a WPRI-TV 12 poll released Thursday that showed the first-term Democratic congressman trailing his two potential Republican rivals in his bid for reelection in 2012.

Kershaw responded: "The Rhode Island attorney general has already reviewed this case and determined there was no criminal behavior on anyone's part and, therefore, determined not to take any further action."

Ceprano has maintained he was fired because he refused to play along with John Cicilline's scheme and refused to perform other tax favors for the mayor's political friends and supporters. The mayor denied the allegations at the time and maintained he was unaware of his brother's bad checks until appraised by a Journal reporter. The state police and the state attorney general's office investigated the incident, but no charges were filed.

As of last year, Bizzacco was still among those defendants named in Ceprano's civil suit seeking millions in damages for his firing.

Looking closer at civil unions vote

Last Thursday's House session was noteworthy for several reasons, not the least of was the speed with which the chamber dealt with an issue one member described as "a societal game changer" and "the single-most important issue that we will debate on this floor."

The discussion began at 4:30 p.m. One hour and 51 minutes later, the House of Representatives had approved a bill that legalizes civil unions, sending it on to the Senate.

The vote spread - 62 to 11 - was a pleasant surprise for those who see civil unions as a step toward equality for same-sex couples or at least a compromise on the issue of same-sex marriage.

But even with the speed and spread of the vote, there were discussions and votes along the way that suggest less unanimity should the chamber, perhaps next year, take up the issue of same-sex marriage.

The two instances in which House Speaker Gordon D. Fox blocked votes on floor amendments serve as a case in point.

In one case, Fox ruled that a floor amendment to legalize same-sex marriage violated House rules because it substantially changed the contents of the civil unions bill. When the amendment sponsor, Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston, challenged Fox's ruling, the House voted 47 to 23 to uphold the speaker.

In the second case, Fox ruled that a floor amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman was not germane to bill. When the amendment sponsor, Rep. Arthur Corvese, D-North Providence, challenged Fox's ruling, the House voted 48 to 23 to uphold the speaker.

Those votes might sound consistent, but a look at the roll calls for each vote show it was largely a different group of lawmakers each time who disagreed with Fox's ruling. Of the 23 representatives who opposed Fox's ruling in Handy's case and the 23 who opposed Fox's ruling in Corvese's case, only five - Laurence Ehrhardt, Brian Newberry, Daniel Reilly, John Savage and Robert Watson, all Republicans - disagreed both times.

The obvious inference: Some representatives opposed Fox on Handy's amendment because they wanted a vote on same-sex marriages, while others opposed Fox on Corvese's amendment because they wanted to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Mayor has protection at State House

Taveras

Perhaps feeling like he was entering hostile territory, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras came to the State House on Tuesday armed for battle. Taveras was seen walking the halls with a bulletproof vest under his suit.

The mayor was on his way to testify at a Senate hearing on legislation that he has said is key to the Capital City closing a budget deficit approaching $110 million. (One of those bills is a controversial plan to allow cities and towns to tax nonprofit colleges and hospitals for the first time).

But the hearing just so happened to fall on the day that the mayor was also scheduled to do a ride-along with the Providence Police Department. As Taveras spokeswoman Melissa Withers explains it, once a month, the mayor spends a day in active duty within a department.

He was supposed to be out on active patrol all afternoon and evening with the police, which required him to be fitted with the vest.

But since it would have been a "huge hassle" to take the vest off, the mayor simply ran up to Smith Hill to testify in between patrols, full vest and all, Withers said.

Now in Iraq, Loughlin enlists spokesman

Loughlin

Republican John J. Loughlin II has enlisted Michael V. Napolitano as spokesman in his bid for the 1st Congressional District seat currently held by Democrat David N. Cicilline.

Napolitano is chairman of the Lincoln Republican Town Committee. He served as communications director and press secretary for Republican gubernatorial candidate John Robitaille last year.

Napolitano says he is acting as Loughlin's spokesman until Loughlin returns from assignment in Iraq, as army regulations bar Loughlin from commenting on campaign issues.

The former state representative from Tiverton is retired from the Army but has been restored as a lieutenant colonel in order to help the armed forces with public-affairs work in Iraq, where he expects to be through December.

Napolitano said the former state lawmaker, who has yet to officially declare his intentions to run for Congress, is a serious candidate in 2012. "He's away serving his country and focused on that mission, but he is anxious to get back and run a competitive race."

A WPRI-TV 12 poll released Thursday indicated that Loughlin would best Cicilline by 12 percentage points in a head-to-head race if the election was this month.

Democrats help raise funds for Cicilline

Cicilline

U.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline raised about $25,000 from a fundraiser at the Providence Marriott on Wednesday. More than 150 attended, including Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, House Speaker Gordon D. Fox and state Democratic Party Chairman Edwin R. Pacheco.

U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Rep. James Langevin - all Democrats like Cicilline - headlined the fundraiser in honor of the former Providence mayor, who has faced a barrage of criticism for the city's poor fiscal condition following his eight-year tenure.

As the suggested contribution was only $100, the campaign considered the event a "great success," said Brett Smiley, the campaign's finance director.

The fundraiser came close on the heels of this month's announcement by former state police Col. Brendan Doherty that he will challenge Cicilline for the 1st Congressional District seat as a Republican. Doherty, a political novice, has launched his campaign with $50,000 of his own money.

Cicilline's City Hall successor, Mayor Taveras, a Democrat who has declined to publicly endorse the congressman at this point, was not among the many supporters listed on an invite sent out this week. Taveras' spokeswoman Melissa Withers said the mayor had his own fundraiser on Wednesday night.

Cicilline has been steadily raising funds since taking office in January. He ended the first quarter of 2011 with $77,930 in his federal campaign account after raising about $124,000.

redgar@projo.com

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